Believing in Heroes
by 1kat0
Summary: Katherine Powell is called in by SHIELD to aid them in the search for the Tesseract after one of their own is compromised and develops feelings for a certain Captain that had been locked away. What happens when the god of mischief is informed about her and the knowledge she has on the cube? Steve/OC


**This is a rewrite of "The Avengers" with my OC. I've been working on this for a few months now so I hope you enjoy it. And this is Steve/OC.**

Chapter 1

It had been a long day.

My body ached in places that hadn't in what felt like ages and my lungs sucked in air as I climbed the steps out of the pool and took a seat. After I wiped my face on my towel, I gulped down a bottle of water and headed for the showers, silently congratulating myself for going even further this time around.

The smell of the chlorine behind me, I went to my locker for my bag. After I put the combination in, I went to grab my things but was stopped short of my intended destination by a face that I did not know.

"Katherine Powell?"

"You have two seconds to get out of here before I put you in the hospital." I warned as I looked him over with careful eyes.

The man before me held out a badge and said, "My name is Phil Coulson of SHIELD," I raised my brow, not knowing who that was. "There's been a situation. We need you to come in."

I backed up slowly. "Come in? I don't even know who you are. Why would I go with you?"

"We know you know about the Tesseract." that caught my attention. "It was taken from us and we're getting everyone and everything we know to help track it down before it can be used."

Used? That wasn't good. Thinking that they couldn't know as much as they were saying, I decided to ease my way along. "My work on the Tesseract? What would you all want with that? It's all historical research, none of which is proven to be of any kind of use."

Phil sighed. "We need to collect everything we know about to help locate it."

I stayed quite for a moment, thinking this over. "Why do you all want me? I'd be willing to let you take copies of my work but-"

"That's not the only thing we need,"

I dropped my bag onto the bench beside me. "It's not?"

"One of our agents was compromised. We need someone we know, trust, to come in and fill his spot. Someone like you."

"You mean a soldier?" I stood up straighter, though it wasn't much, and looked Coulson in his eyes. "You don't even know me."

"We know about the unique skill set you possess, how you work well with others, the leader you are known to be . Among other things."

"You don't know me. Or anything about me." I repeated grabbing my bag. Having forgotten about actually taking a shower, I slipped on a pair of sweatpants, my jacket and shoes then went for the door. "You're just wasting time you don't have to find the Tesseract." And mine. "I'm sure there's someone out there who'll be more than glad to help."

"There's a package waiting for you at your apartment if you're in. We could really use you, Captain Powell." I looked over my shoulder, a slight frown on my face and pang of sadness in my heart. Shaking my head I got in my car and drove home, that uneasy feeling sitting in my stomach.

* * *

To say that the latter days events were bugging me would be an understatement. I mean, what would, I assumed, a government agency want with me and the work I did on the side?

After I had taken my shower, I decided to do a bit of research on SHIELD. But two hours later I had found absolutely nothing. Not a single article, video interview, hell, not even a photo of the group that approached me. I even tried photo searching the logo I saw on this, Agent Coulson's, badge but still and up empty handed.

When my stomach alerted me that it was time to get dinner, I closed my web page and warmed up a plate of leftovers. Grabbing a drink from my fridge, I stared at the package that had been sitting on my bed since I got home.

In the back of my mind, I wondered how it got in here in the first place. There was no return address, which means that someone dropped it off. But all of my third story windows and my front door and been locked when I got back with no signs of tampering, leaving me with a small uneasy feeling.

I guess you could say that was the main reason why I currently had my sidearm tucked in the back waistband of my sweatpants.

I ate my meal in silence. The tension in the air was so thick I could hardly take it any longer, so I gave in to my curiosity and went to open the package.

It was a very basic, brown paper wrapped box with my name on the front in bold black letters. Their logo was stamped on each of the four sides, but nothing else. Inside lay a small stack of files labeled 'CLASSIFIED' and I had only just begun reading the first folder when I noticed something out of the corner of my eye. Taking the box of files, I carefully slid them under my bed and walked over to my window. It was well after eleven but there was still plenty of New Yorker's out enjoying the night life. In between the crowd, I saw, I don't know what I saw. It appeared then disappeared too fast for even me to see clearly so I brushed it off as a drunk doing something stupid and went back to my workload.

I layed down on my bed and went back to the folder I had started, the name Bruce Banner catching my eye as I read the reasons why his expertise in gamma radiation was being used in the search for the Tesseract. I had only gotten a few pages in when my exhaustion became too much and I drifted into a dreamless sleep.

* * *

A loud banging on my door awoke me. Jerking up I grabbed my weapon from my nightstand and went to see what the problem was, glancing at my clock along the way. It was twenty after six and I knew right then that I wouldn't be getting back to sleep.

Peeking through the hole in my door, I let out a groan as I saw Agent Phil Coulson standing on the other side accompanied by two more men. And yes, the black suits and shades in doors did stand out a bit.

I, against my better judgement, opened the door and Coulson wasted no time letting himself in. "There's been a change of plans." he said turning to me.

"Change? How and why does this involve me? I thought I said I didn't want to be apart of whatever it is you're doing."

"I'll explain more on the way, but right now, you need to get dressed. Our ride leaves in ten minutes." Phil said forcefully.

"I'm not going anywhere with you until you tell me what the hell is going on!"

Clearly, that got his attention. But not wanting to lose this verbal battle, Agent Coulson said, "I'll tell you as much as I can while you get dressed."

There was no way I wasn't going with these people. Sighing in victory and defeat I headed towards my room, leaving the door open so I could hear.

"We have reason to believe that the person who took the Tesseract from us will be looking to add another person with knowledge of the Cube to his... army." said Phil.

"And how do I play into that?"

"Our agent who was compromised, we believe that he informed the one who took the Cube about you. We think that he'll come after you next."

I narrowed my eyes as I stepped out of my room. Now dressed in jeans, a long sleeve t-shirt and boots, I replied, "Me? You think I'm in danger? I can take care of myself."

"And we don't doubt that." Phil started, ushering me towards the front door. "But this person, he's, not from around here. You wouldn't know what hit you if he got to you. And we don't want to give him a chance."

I grabbed my jacket before one of the other men could shut my front door then followed them in to a waiting SUV. "This isn't one of your tricks to get my help, is it Agent Coulson?"

"I'm afraid this is no game, Captain Powell. The threat is all too real."

I nodded slowly in understanding. I didn't know how long the drive was going to be, so I got as comfortable as I could and waited. Looking out the window, I remembered one thing so I turned to Agent Coulson. "Don't call me 'Captain'."

* * *

We had been driving for close to thirty minutes and in the first ten I noticed a couple of things.

First off, the windows were heavily tinted. I couldn't see anything aside from my reflection and I knew right away that that was the plan. I asked where we were going, but got no response. These guys sure did know how to keep a lid on things.

Secondly, Coulson was alway on his phone. Texting or making calls, that little device was always in his hand to pressed against his ear. And when ever he hung up, the look on his face turned into a mix between a frown of sadness and worry. It was only after his latest phone call, when the vehicle began to slow down, that he began to look more chipper.

"You'll be taken to our home base from here by plane; it's around a forty-five minute flight." Agent Coulson said getting out of the car. I followed him, shielding my eyes from the bright sun that shone down upon us. "Did you read any of the files given to you?"

"Uh, just the one on Doctor Bruce Banner."

"Alright. When you get onboard you'll be able to go over the rest. I'll see you there."

"You're not coming with me?" I asked when I noticed hat he had another car waiting for him.

"I have another stop to make." Then he was gone but not without my noticing the slight smile on his face.

Being led to a waiting jet that I didn't recognize, therefore it had to be a secret one, I took a seat after a clear tablet was handed to me but an Agent. "Here are the rest of the files for you per Agent Coulson's orders. Any questions you have will be answered on base when we arrive."

I thanked the man and quickly got to work on the first set which was of a pair of master assassins. The way the file was put, it appeared that I was there to fill the void left by one Agent Clint Barton, codename Hawkeye; he was the one who was compromised. He and his partner, Agent Natasha Romanoff, codename Black Widow, worked extremely well together I noted while watching a few short clips of them in the field.

Next was genius, billionaire Tony Stark. To be honest, I didn't need to read his file. I knew that he was Iron Man and about the events that led him to that role; even the ones the press never got ahold of. But being the good student that I am, I read up on him any way. If not for any other reason but to freshen my memory.

I was close to dropping the tablet onto the jet floor when the name on the last file came up. Instead, I caught myself and took a deep breath to steady my racing heart.

I stared at the page telling myself that there was no way that this could be the man I had done countless reports on. Research papers, history presentations, What I Want to Be When I Grow Up essays.

It just couldn't be 'that' Steve Rogers.

Could it?

**Here's Katherine's outfit. Remove () and add www : (polyvore) .com(/cgi/set?id)=(105037464)**

**Review?**


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